Have you ever heard the expression “throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks!”? That’s kind of my motto when it comes to parenting. There are so many things that we throw our kids way and we hope that the most important things stick with them. I would argue that the most important piece of information for them to memorize is a parent’s cell phone number.
Now you might say to yourself, “Hayley, my kids are always with me or a trusted adult.” Or, “My number is saved in their phone which is always with them…Why is this a MUST?”
Here’s Why:
A few years ago my family and I were on a ski trip. We were on the mountain with our cousins and my 20-year-old nephew (trusted adult) and my youngest son (at the time he was 7) got separated from the rest of us. When we got to our normal meeting spot at the bottom of the mountain they were nowhere to be found. So we waited…and waited…and waited. “There’s no need to panic Hayley”, I said to myself, “just call your nephew’s cell phone!” I did. It went straight to voicemail. I called it again. No answer. I called about 5 more times and each time it went right to voicemail. At this point I started to freak out. Big mountain…little kid. My mind was racing with all the possibilities that no parent wants to think about.
I was about to call ski patrol when my phone rang from a random number. I answered and it was my nephew. He and my son were fine. They took a wrong turn and ended up on the opposite side of the mountain. They were together and wanted to let me know that it would take a while to walk back. He said that his phone had died and he wasn’t really sure what to do other than start walking towards the usual meeting spot.
What to know and what to do:
I was so proud to hear that my son, the seven year old, was the one who decided what they should do next: “Let’s look for a person who looks like a mommy and ask to borrow their phone.”
My nephew responded, “I don’t know your mom’s phone number without access to my own phone.”
Jesse said “I know it! And I know my dad’s number too!!”
This is just one of many situations that can pop up where your child should know your phone number by heart. He was with a trusted adult and safe but had no way to communicate this to his worried family. He was able to navigate the situation because he knew to ask for a phone from “someone who looked like a mommy” and he memorized the number he had to call. Thankfully, this allowed him to let me know that everything was ok and my moment of panic changed to a proud mama moment. Nice work Jesse!
How:
When they were babies I made a poster with my cell phone number, my husband’s cell phone number and our house line (yes, I am one of the few people left on the planet that still has a landline). I hung it on the wall of their playroom and whenever we were in that room together playing, we would make a point to look at the poster and recite the phone numbers. The poster was always there so even when we weren’t intentionally focused on it, the information showing was seeping into their heads. Eventually, it stuck with all of them. And we proved on the mountain that it was worth the effort!
Knowing a parent’s phone number is something that your child can use whether they are young and get separated from you, or when they are older and have lost their cell phone and they need to contact you. Cell phones make it easy to store numbers. But what if your child finds themselves without that information at their fingertips. It’s important that they have at least one trusted adult’s phone number in their brain so they always have a way to get in touch with you, even if they cannot use their own phone. Of course we also recommend that your child knows to call 911 in an emergency or if they forget a specific person’s phone number.
